Data Tracking

So this past week we had our six month evaluations for Healthy U.
I can't tell you how they went really because we have to wait until they run them in the newspaper.
But I can tell you that overall they went well! 

I have decided that weight loss is just like tracking any sort of data.
We track data at school ALL. THE. TIME.
*How many words per minute can you read? How many math problems can you get right? What types of questions can you answer about a story? What are your writing strengths? Weaknesses? How many 'good' days do you have vs. 'bad' days? Spelling test scores? Advanced, Proficient, Basic? Red, Yellow, Green? Grades? Standards-based scores?*
SO MUCH DATA. 

But what I've learned in my years teaching is that data is NOT the end-all-be-all.
Because we are dealing with HUMANS.
Any assessment is a snapshot of how that one student performs with that set of questions at that one moment in time.
If one of my students who is typically an "advanced" kiddo, has to take a test on a day when they are sick, and end up being just "Proficient" ... that's not on the student OR the teacher. 

Same goes for weight loss.
We are all HUMAN.

We all have parties, birthdays, sickness, emotions, family drama, friend drama, dates, vacations...
And all of those things (plus so much more) make up life.
Some of us have triggers that are bigger than others, or just different.

So when we do these evaluations, it is one snapshot of our weight, measurements and physical abilities at one moment in time.

Have I lost weight and inches overall since the beginning? Yes.
Am I better able to perform at the physical tasks? Yes.
Has my blood pressure gotten better? Yes.
Do my clothes fit better? Yes.
Am I more confident with my appearance? Yes.

So, at six months, with 172ish days left, I am happy with how far I have come so far given so many circumstances; and I am looking forward to how much more I am going to accomplish in the next half! 

Food for thought... 

We had softball camp Monday through Thursday this past week.
Kids Camp went from 8am-9:30am, and then High School camp went from 10am-noon.
This pic are my kids plus our high school helpers. We had a great turn-out and I couldn't be more proud! 

And here's my high school group. They worked so hard this week and learned a lot! 

After Thursday's camp day we enjoyed Popsicles and a slip and slide! With both groups, it took a little convincing for them to participate but it ended up being a lot of fun!  

This picture is one that makes me proud.
Two years ago at our camp, there was a picture of me in the newspaper and I looked AWFUL. Like I pretty much didn't recognize myself. So when I saw this picture, I was happy with the way I looked. I still see some things that need work, and I know I will always think that about my body. But now I know that I can and will accomplish my goals for myself.